We’re making waves across the State! The Woodstock-led campaign to oppose an increase in the maximum rates that currency exchanges may charge for check-cashing and to reform the state’s check-cashing...

Data on the number and amount of bank loans made to businesses are now available on Woodstock’s data portal. These data are important because they provide information about small business access to capital, which is a key element to growth and success. Small businesses create economic opportunity within neighborhoods, increase local employment opportunities, and provide residents a means of wealth building through entrepreneurship. Businesses that have access to adequate levels of capital grow more rapidly, hire more workers, and make more investments than businesses that do not have access. Without the availability of bank loans, small businesses often must turn to alternative forms of capital, which can come with high interest rates, onerous terms, and poor customer service.

Hello readers!I’m thrilled to announce I have joined the Woodstock Institute as the new Communications and Development Associate.I apologize for taking a while to introduce myself formally; my start...

The ongoing budget stalemate darkened the mood in the Capitol, and Woodstock, as a member of the Responsible Budget Coalition, hopes that the legislature and the Governor can finally agree on a budget that raises revenue and maintains critical state services. In the meantime, however, Woodstock and others have been working to pass various pro-consumer bills, and we are pleased to report some success this session.

Woodstock Institute celebrated victory in the successful defense of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) rule on prepaid cards against a repeal effort by Georgia Senator David Perdue. Sen. Perdue had attempted to do away with CFPB’s finalized prepaid rule through the Congressional Review Act, a law which enables Congress to roll back federal regulations.

On March 2 the Department of Labor published a proposed rule to delay for 60 days the implementation of its fiduciary rule. Woodstock has written frequently on this essential rule (see most recently our article on February 9, 2017), which requires investment advisors to put first the interests of customers rather than provide conflicted advice to make bigger commissions and profits for advisors. If the rule becomes effective, it will provide a crucial safeguard for the millions of Americans who put their trust in investment advisers as they save for retirement.

It has been a dizzying couple of weeks following the new administration’s series of actions and appointments that are likely to roll back protections for workers, retirees, consumers, refugees, and others. Although Woodstock Institute is nonpartisan and has not published separate responses to each unfortunate action, appointment, tweet, and misstatement of facts, we have been working closely with allies across the country to demonstrate support for many of the well-researched policies that are under attack.

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Research Corner is a regular column from Woodstock Institute's vice president of applied research Spencer Cowan investigating data trends, posing new questions, and discussing how data inform public policy.

Information is the most important single ingredient for sound decision-making – more specifically, accurate, reliable, relevant, and timely information. This holds true whether the decision is being made in the private or public sector. Retailers need data about the surrounding communities that will provide the customer base when choosing new locations for their stores. Manufacturers need data about the availability of skilled workers, tax rates, and infrastructure when siting new plants. School boards choosing sites for new schools need data about where students live. Data enable the decision-makers to make better decisions—and the House of Representatives is trying to eliminate funding for one of the most important data sources in the country.

The Federal Reserve is set to take unprecedented measures to protect consumers from the credit card industry&rsquo;s worst practices, such as interest rate hikes on existing balances. The final rule, expected to pass today, is the culmination of over two years of debate on how to best protect consumers from the arbitrary interest rate hikes and high fees that have come to characterize the $970 billion industry.

Last week, the Monsignor John Egan Campaign for Payday Loan Reform and Woodstock Institute called for much-needed consumer protections for the currently unregulated payday installment loan industry at a press conference in downtown Chicago.&nbsp; These new consumer protections, included in a recent proposal by Senator Kimberly Lightford (D-Maywood), would ensure reasonable fees in an industry that has operated for years outside the consumer protections established in the 2005 Payday Loan Reform Act.